Frae-Slagteri
Summary The Free Slaughterers, or "Fraeslag." The name is not a reference to their warring, but the craft of the city. This town is one giant factory, a combination of abattoirs, chandlers, and tanneries. Despite the gory work, the city remains strangely clean. All the streets are channeled to pour blood and waste to the edge of the town, out into the ocean. The ocean breezes serve to drive most of the smell away from the city. Situated on the coast north of the great cattle herds of the Frae-Vormen, near a wide salt pan, the Fraeslag serve as the center for meat and candle production for much of the north. The Fraeslag was built up in the tumultuous years after the Uncrowning. Loyalists to the crown, and former nobles ran far from the old cities. With their money and guile, they slowly built up a city in the north to rival their old estates. The Fraeslag is the first and only town to freely offer Castyl citizenship to those who serve the city for five years. It is a dangerous path to become a subject. Slaughter-work is dangerous. And the city bosses do not care if a laborer becomes another cut of meat. Fraeslag differs much from the rest of the Free Castles country, in that it has a hidden aristocracy; and the laws of much of the country fail to apply here. Criminal guilds run much of the factories, often using the facilities to hide hostages and bodies. Highdehn Highdehn is located at the center of the Frae-Slagteri city. Sometimes whispered as "Old Crown," Highden is a ring of raised buildings connected by catwalks, that rises above the squalor of the city proper. From a distance it appears to be a six-pointed crown, hovering over Frae-Slagteri. Highton is covered in greenery; grapes and even oranges grow throughout the winter because of the warm steam of the slaughter going on below. Only the wealthiest can live in Highdehn. They eat the finest cuts of meat, breads, and fresh fruit. The residents of Highdehn pay a premium for scented oils and blocks of incense, to mask the odor of the lower city. Highdehn also maintains a company of 200 mercenaries who serve as a police force for the city. Disparagingly called "the Angels," the men can drop down from Highdehn almost anywhere into Slagteri proper, to enforce the will of the city lords. Gwaeddehn Gwaeddehn, or "Red Den" comprises the rest of the Slagteri city. Inns are next to slaughterhouses, dormitories next to tanneries. All the walls in Reddehn are a dun brown, to cover the marks of blood. Workers live where they can, learning to get by on scrap stews, and ''baragwaed ''(blood-bread). Clean water and fresh greens are hard to come by, fetching a premium price. Immigrants, "outlanders," who live in Frae Slagteri, have to pay criminal guilds much of their wages to pay for food, housing, even the right to work. They also pay city authorities bribes every year to mark their time of service. Many end up being debt-slaves to the lords who own the slaughterhouses. Location Estimated Numbers There are 1,000 citizens; and up to ten times as many outland laborers. Known Towns Frae-Slagteri is the sole city. There are 20 villages who fall under the reach of the city lords. Allies The lords of the Fraeslag have received secret missions from the Pintari Mageocracy, pledging support to overthrow the Frae Castyls. They have also spoken secretly with the orks in the west and east, in hopes of fomenting more attacks on the border. Foes Three of the seven Castyls have voted to depose the leaders of the Fraeslag, for flouting the rights of free men. The rest have abstained. Many of the Voermen chafe against the set prices for their cattle; and want to take the city for themselves. Salt miners and many of the factory workers desire to rebel as well. Characters Varissa the White Castylfrae Category:Provinces and Lesser States